Visit to Early Start at University of Wollongong

This week A/Prof Tamara Cumming and I were able to visit Early Start at University of Wollongong and spend 3 hours with their fantastic staff

• Director, Culture and Community | Associate Professor Anthony McKnight  (Macca)
• Director, Research and Education | Associate professor Judy Pickard 
• Manager, Early Start Operations | Josef English 

Universities

While I was on leave I had the opportunity to visit the campuses of a few universities around the world. I did not visit in an official capacity - so had a lovely time just exploring the campuses of ancient and modern universities in cities including:

• Fes and Marrakesh in Morocco 
• Coimbra, Aveiro and Braga in Portugal

I particularly enjoyed the tour of the UNESCO heritage listed university in Coimbra and chatting to the students about the customs and traditions. 

Chatting with students at the University of Coimbra about traditions when students transitioned from first to second year

 

Thank you Tasmania

I have had a lovely time in Tasmania meeting a LOT of 4 year olds, teaching assistants (TAs), school support coordinators (SSC), teachers, principals, speech pathologists and others - as well as experiencing the food, history, and scenery of the island. Thanks Felicity and Lisa and CET and Tassie.

Planet Word Museum

This morning Dr Helen Blake, Bob McKinney, and I went with our family members to visit the Planet Word Museum https://planetwordmuseum.org/. What an amazing place for people who love words. Three floors of extremely creative and interactive exhibits that feature words. Even the lockers and bathrooms featured words in many languages. We could have stayed all day.

International Phonetic Alphabet for the numbers of the lockers - written in world languages

Shelley Velleman (US), Eddie Wong (Hong Kong) Helen Blake (CSU), Sharynne  McLeod (CSU), Bob McKinney (US)

 

Getting over jetlag in Washington DC before the ASHA convention

We arrived in Washington DC last night to prepare for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association convention to be held this week. Today was spent visiting important sites in Washington DC, soaking up some sunshine to get over jetlag, seeing some squirrels, and catching up on work.

The White House

Washington Monument

Capitol Building

Capitol Building

Capitol Building

A squirrel!

 

Helen Blake and I had fun creating these photos in Washington DC

Geneva - home of the Reformation, Piaget, Rousseau, watches, chocolate, cheese, and so much more

Reformation Wall - John Calvin, William Farel, Théodore de Bèze and John Knox

Piaget

Lake Geneva

Revisiting Fiji's remote islands

In 2017 my daughter and I volunteered to support a team to build a playground on a remote island in Fiji. Here is the video we made about that visit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwbB1_8zAMs

We had the opportunity to visit again this year and were excited to meet the children and teachers.

Children pointing out my name on the sign from 2017 (photo permission granted)

 

Sharing our CVC Children Draw Health research with the school

 

 

 

 

Beautiful Fiji

What an honour to visit beautiful Fiji for the WHO meeting. Beautiful people and beautiful islands and oceans. During this week we have been made very aware of the impact of climate change - immediate (with more severe weather events) and ongoing (with rising sea levels) - and the importance of climate resilience as the Western Pacific "occupies the front seat of climate change" (WHO RCM76 Chairperson: Honourable Dr. Ratu Atonio Rabici Lalabalavu).

Electric car

It's been fun to drive CSU's new electric car to the Orange campus this week - in the rain!

 

Farewell Malta

I have enjoyed visiting Malta and learning about its rich history. Here are some photos taken in Valletta and Mdina showcasing Malta's heritage. 

La Vallette Hall, the site of the IALP conference dinner

Valletta Grandmaster's palace

Valletta Grandmaster's palace

St John’s Cathedral, Valletta

Valletta

Valletta

Valletta

Valletta

Valletta

Mdina

Mdina

Mdina